


Everytime you get lost, I'll be the one to find you

by whywouldieverpushlouisoffthebed



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-02
Updated: 2013-03-02
Packaged: 2017-12-04 03:09:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/705830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whywouldieverpushlouisoffthebed/pseuds/whywouldieverpushlouisoffthebed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry had the stuffed dog since before he can even remember. He loses it. Louis finds it. It might’ve been meant to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everytime you get lost, I'll be the one to find you

**Author's Note:**

> I am actually really really proud of this. Enjoy!!

When Harry was five years old the biggest snow storm of the century hit his town. Power lines dropped under the weight of the alternating ice and snow that built up on top of them. Cars that just didn’t have it in them to push on were left abandoned in the streets. People were barricaded in their houses for days. He still remembers sitting on the couch with his mom, every blanket they could find in the house piled on top of them. It was cold. It shouldn’t be cold in the house. That’s what had his little brain doing circles. The house was always warm, that’s how he liked it. Warm and smelling of chocolate chip pancakes. Not cold. It even smelt like _cold._

The power had only been out for a couple of hours the first time Lucky went missing.

It was getting dark much earlier than usual with the sun being hidden behind layers of snow and ice all mixed up in the clouds. He wasn’t afraid of the dark, but he didn’t like it either. Okay, maybe he was afraid just a little bit, but that was a secret he wouldn’t share with just anyone. Which posed a problem when he reached down under the blankets to pull Lucky from his lap and into his arms, only to find he wasn’t there.

The little dark brown stuffed dog with bright blue eyes had been given to him as a baby by his father. His mom said it was lucky. He believed her. So that’s what he named him.

See the thing was, he always kept it with him. Dangling from the crook of his elbow when they went grocery shopping, tail flopping back and forth with each step. Sitting stuffed between his legs, along side his popcorn, when they had family movie nights every single Friday night. Tucked securely beneath his blanket so he wouldn’t fall off the bed during those long, dream filled nights. Sometimes he even sat atop the kitchen table with his very own plate that Harry’s mom would prepare ahead of time, with tiny stuffed dog size portions, just to see her son’s face light up.

He had become so accustomed to feeling that soft fabric clenched in his hand that the absence of it was actually making his stomach feel funny. He didn’t want to say anything. He wanted to be a big boy and sit there on that couch without his stuffed dog and fall asleep with the person he loved most in the world. He didn’t want to have to get up and go to his dark, cold room, where is where he was sure Lucky was. He must’ve dropped him when he was fumbling around, trying to grab his blanket and pillow earlier and haul them downstairs. But when your five years old sometimes you cant control yourself. And sometimes you just need your stuffed dog.

“Mom I cant find Lucky,” Harry whimpered.

He could already feel his bottom lip quivering.

“I’m sure he’s around here somewhere sweetheart. We can find him in the morning.”

She just didn’t understand.

“I ne—need him now though.”

There came the tears.

That always seemed to work.

His mom shuffled her way out from under their homemade mountain and grabbed the flashlight that had been resting on the coffee table, hitting it against her palm a few times until it flickered to life. He was at her side in an instant, slipping his tiny hand in hers, so she could lead him upstairs. He tried wiping the tears from his face with his free hand but ended up just rubbing them around, leaving his skin wet and tingling. By the time they got to his room he was almost positive his face was frozen. He poked at it a couple of times, just to check, but his cheeks felt squishy as ever, cold, but definitely not frozen.

“D’you see him mommy?”

Harry stood there, eyes wide and nervous, twisting the hem of his green dinosaur pajama shirt around his fingers. It was the longest of all the shirts he had on, sticking out the bottom of his heavy coat. When his mom first made him put on three shirts, a jacket, and his coat he wondered if there was something wrong with her, he never had to wear that much clothes before. So as she helped him get his little hands into his mittens, she explained that the snow had made all the lights go out and it was going to get very cold and that’s why he had to put on so many layers. He had nodded but he didn’t really understand until now.

“Not yet. Are you sure you left him in here?”

He tried to think back to the last time he had the dog, like he was always told to do when he lost something, but it didn’t help.

“I—I don’t know where I left him.”

She probably spent more time searching than most parents would have, given the circumstances. And after they had pretty much destroyed every room in the house, with no luck, they retired to the couch for the night and fell asleep in a heap of limbs and pillows and fabric.

Lucky was only missing for one day.

Harry found him the next evening twisted up in a blanket on the couch.

*

When Harry turned eleven he had an crazy birthday party. Eight of his friends got to spend the night and they were allowed to turn the stereo up as loud as they wanted. His mom even let them stay up until midnight and eat an entire gallon of chocolate ice cream right out of the pail. He was eleven after all and when you’re eleven those are things you consider to be crazy.

He was about to fall asleep, drunk on ice cream and _life_ , the second time Lucky went missing.

As much as he didn’t want his friends to know he needed a stuffed animal to fall asleep, he needed a stuffed animal to fall asleep. A certain stuffed animal that’s hair was now matted down from years of being drug around and had a sewn on back leg after the family’s real dog ripped it off in a tug of war match with a frantic nine year old Harry.

He remembers that moment like it was yesterday. He took Lucky (and his detached leg) to his mom, who was reading in the living room. She wiped his eyes before retrieving her needle and thread and getting to work, telling Harry about his dad while she mended the little dog’s leg. They laughed when she reenacted the time they went sledding and toppled over halfway down the hill, snow covering their faces and finding its way down the neck of their coats. That was before Harry. They smiled when she told him how excited they were when he was born. How his dad had said he was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen in his life, along with his beautiful wife of course. They cried too. Mostly because there were only so many good memories before the bad ones came along.

Now as he lay there the choice couldn’t seem more clear. He got up quietly, hoping no one would notice that he’d left, and retraced his steps. Before the party his mom had forced him to clean his room, where Lucky had been watching from the bed. When he went downstairs he remembered dragging him along, taking him into the kitchen to beg for some ice cream early. His mom had said no of course, so he sulked into the living room and watched a movie to try to pass the time until his friends arrived. Lucky had sat on his lap. After that was when things got a little fuzzy, his neighbor Nick showing up early, pulling him from the couch and upstairs to play video games. Everyone else began arriving over the next couple of hours and the little dog slipped his mind. He was only eleven, what could you expect.

He checked the couch first obviously. Even looking underneath the cushions and behind it. Nothing.

The kitchen didn’t offer much hope either. Things were looking bleak.

Harry finally wound up back where he started, defeated and lonely even though he was surrounded by friends.

Lucky was only missing for three days.

He found him after school on a Tuesday. Shoved under his bed and covered in dust and crumbs, next to the pencil he had just dropped and went searching for.

*

Sixteen proved to be a rough age for Harry. His hair never seemed to lay how he liked it and he didn’t like girls like all his friends did. They were too fragile, with their tiny manicured fingers and hair that wasn’t allowed to be touched because, “It took me two whole hours Harry! Don’t mess with it!” They were too much work, always needing to reminded how pretty they were, or be told in great detail why he liked them. He should be allowed to touch his girlfriends hair all he wanted in his opinion. And after explaining at least fifteen times everything he liked he thought it would end, but it never did. So he decided he liked boys. Simple as that. He told his mom he wasn’t scared he was going to break them and they liked the same things he liked. She hugged him and with a smirk on her face said she had known it was coming.

He was on the bus home from school, finally giving in and talking to the cute boy with blonde hair that always sat in front of him, the third time Lucky went missing.

Niall, as he introduced himself, decided they should exchange numbers so Harry was digging around in his backpack for his phone when he realized something wasn’t where it should’ve been. And it wasn’t his phone. He found that quickly, exchanging it with Niall’s, as they both typed their name and numbers in.

“So you’re gonna text me later then mate?” Niall asked, facing backwards with his chin resting on the top of the seat.

“Nah. I thought I’d just get your number in case I ever needed someone to prank call.”

Harry ruffled his curls, pushing them to the side, and smiled up at Niall.

Girls liked it, so who’s to say guys wouldn’t too? He could be a flirt if he wanted to.

“Haha real funny Harry. I’m serious though. I will be expecting a text. Don’t you forget me!”

It must’ve been his stop because he was walking backwards clumsily down the aisle, pointing at Harry and smirking.

“I wont.”

He really didn’t mean to forget about texting the boy. He just got a little distracted, that’s all. After he got home and his excitement slowly wore off he remembered that Lucky hadn’t been in his backpack earlier. Lucky was always in his backpack, since his very first day of kindergarten.

At the beginning of each school year his mom would ask him if he had decided to finally leave the dog behind. His response was always the same, a laugh and a shake of the head. She never argued with him. That is up until the start of the current year.

“Have you finally decided to leave the dog behind?”

He was eating a bowl of cereal, muffling his laugh, while he shook his head.

“Don’t you think it’s about time Harry?”

He knew she wasn’t trying to be mean. She actually looked genuinely concerned, crinkles etching across her forehead.

“No.”

He swallowed hard.

“I know what Lucky means to you but you’re sixteen honey. Sixteen year old boys don’t carry stuffed animals around with them.”

“It’s all I have left of him mom.”

He couldn’t stop the way his body tensed up, the way his eyes glistened with tears and his jaw quivered.

His mom hugged him for at least five minutes, let him have a skip day, and never mentioned it again.

So Harry was back to looking for Lucky once again. He was one hundred percent sure he was in his backpack when he went to school which could only mean one thing. Someone had stolen him. Or he had fallen out. Neither option had very favorable outcomes so one could see why he had more important things to worry about then texting. He searched the house, _just in case_ , and ended up falling asleep feeling like it was the end of the world.

Lucky was missing for an entire week.

He checked the lost and found bin everyday.

On Monday he found him, buried beneath someone’s jacket that smelt like rotten eggs.

*

Harry was scared. He was scared to move away from his mom. He was scared to be in a new town, with new people, and a new school. He was scared to be alone. When he originally made the decision to attend university he had actually been quite excited, the key word being originally.

Now as he sat in his dorm room he wondered just what had inspired him to do this in the first place. He would have to say Niall breaking up with him had been the biggest influence. Harry asked him to be his boyfriend on his seventeenth birthday and he said yes with a kiss that turned into a lot more then Harry was bargaining for. That’s not to say he didn’t enjoy it, because he did, it just wasn’t what he expected it to be. It wasn’t gentle kisses and whispers and love. Everything was rushed and rough and never once did either boy claim love for the other. Harry learned quickly it wasn’t that kind of relationship. Things went on like that for almost a year and a half. The day of their graduation Niall sent him a text telling him it was over. That’s all he got, no explanation, no phone call. He might’ve mentioned something about a stupid dog but Harry pushed that far back until he forgot it was ever said. Niall was just trying to hurt him. So he decided the best way to deal with things would be to leave.

It was astonishing how quickly he got used to his new life. His classes kept him busy and he even made a few friends. He didn’t tell any of them about Lucky. He would never tell anyone about him again. He knew how that worked out.

He was coming home from studying at the library the fourth time Lucky went missing.

Despite everything that told him not to, he still kept the dog in his backpack. He went to all his classes, followed him to the library, and always ended up in his arms once his roommate had passed out for the night after too much partying and not enough studying.

The night in particular when he went to dig through his backpack he found no stuffed dog.

Realizing he couldn’t do anything now, he reluctantly went to sleep and vowed to search the library thoroughly the next morning.

He woke up feeling restless. That was no surprise.

There wasn’t any time for showers, so he threw on a gray beanie to cover up his tangled curls and headed out. It only took him a few minutes to get there, pushing open the heavy wooden doors and making his way to the information desk. A boy sat behind the counter, back facing him so all he could see was wispy caramel hair and a small frame. He was playing some silly game on the computer, which surely couldn’t have been what he was getting paid to do, so Harry cleared his throat.

The boy spun around quickly, far too quickly this early in the morning, all bright eyes and tanned skin.

“How can I help you mate? I’m Louis! Nobodies ever here this early—so I hope I have your word not to rat me out for—well for—“

He motioned behind him to the computer. He was smiling so wide Harry wondered if he knew the secret to eternal happiness. He must’ve.

“M’not gonna tell on you mate. Just looking for something I lost in here yesterday.”

He had peaked the boy—Louis’ curiosity. He seen his eyebrows raise as he stood up to lean on the counter, resting his head on his hands.

“What’d you lose?”

Harry almost forgot about Lucky. For just a split second he was too distracted by black framed glasses showcasing blue eyes and tiny hands clasped together in front of him. Louis had tiny hands. Girls had tiny hands. Louis was practically fifty percent girl. Why couldn’t he stop staring.

“A stuffed dog.”

Saying it out loud in a university library to a boy that he might kind of consider cute just didn’t feel right.

“A stuffed dog? What color is it?”

Louis perked up again, pushing his fringe out of his eyes. His hands were tiny, but upon closer inspection they actually appeared quite boyish. Not bad.

“Brown, with blue eyes, and one of its back legs is sewn on.”

Harry was spouting out information easily now. The fact that Louis wasn’t laughing at him yet was encouraging.

“Hold on one sec.”

He disappeared around a corner and returned holding Lucky carefully in both hands.

“Somebody found it under one of the computer tables last night. I figured his owner would come back for him eventually.”

Louis came around the counter and handed Lucky to Harry, making sure he had him securely in his arms before letting go.

“Thanks so much for taking care of him.”

He knew it sounded stupid but he was too grateful to even care. The library was huge and he wasn’t entirely sure if he was going to even find Lucky this time. But he had. Everything was going to be okay.

“No problem. I didn’t catch your name, sorry.”

“Harry.”

“And the dog?”

He couldn’t be serious. Who was this boy? Prancing around like it was the middle of the day and asking the name of people’s stuffed animals.

“Lucky.”

So logically he answered. It would’ve been rude not to.

“Lucky indeed.”

Louis winked at him, even though Harry was pretty sure he was imaging things.

“Thanks again mate.”

He was almost out the door when Louis yelled.

“Hope to see you around Harry! Lucky too!”

And it took all he had not to turn around and hug the boy until he couldn’t breath.

Lucky was missing for less than twenty four hours.

Harry found him in the arms of a boy named Louis.

*

Two years later he was moving into his own flat. He’d worked hard to get this far, snagging a job at a little grocery store down the street and juggling classes and work as best he could. It wasn’t easy but he loved every second of it, loved the way it made him feel like he was actually accomplishing something.

The flat wasn’t much and he wasn’t expecting it to be for the price he was paying. But after a visit from his mom and a little shopping (her treat) and decorating (also her treat) it turned out quite homey. With just a living room that doubled as a bedroom, a small kitchen, and an even smaller bathroom it filled up quickly with all of his belonging and the things they’d picked up. His mom stayed for a week, making sure he was settled in, and educating him about all the troubles of living alone.

“Mom I’ve been on my own for two years now,” he whined, slumping back on his futon and covering his face with his hands.

“I know but not properly alone. You had a roommate before. That’s different.”

She was right. He would be fine though.

“I’ve got Lucky.”

He plucked the little dog from it’s new designated spot on the edge of the futon and held him out in front of him.

“Harry! A stuffed dog is not a roommate.”

“He’s my roommate. Right Lucky? We will have movie nights and candlelit dinners and such. All the things good roommates do together.”

He was just messing with her now. What good is a mom if not to annoy her every once and awhile?

“Oh Harry. You need to find yourself a boyfriend. Put that at the top of the list.”

She was shaking her head but smiling nonetheless. Her son was an idiot.

He was out boyfriend hunting the fifth time Lucky went missing.

Why he had taken the dog with him for such an occasion was beyond him, stuffing him into his backpack and locking up his flat.

He didn’t even know where he was going because he had lost touch with most of the friends he’d made over his two years there. It was mostly his fault anyway, not texting back when they wanted to hang out or making excuses so he could stay in and study and watch romantic comedies. He just felt like everything was forced, like he was constantly trying to be funny and likable and interesting so they wouldn’t get sick of him. In the end he put forth too much effort when the friendships just didn’t seem worth it. Eventually he gave up altogether. Apparently his friends did too.

After a lot more walking then he had planned, he found himself in the library of all places. What a great place to hunt for a boyfriend being as it was eight o’clock at night on a Friday, leaving it practically deserted.

The door had only just shut behind him when he heard someone call his name.

“Harry! It’s been what? Like two years?”

He turned and was wrapped in a hug by a boy far too enthusiastic to be in a library at eight o’clock on a Friday night. Wait.

“Louis?”

Louis released him, clasping his hands in front of him and grinning like a celebrity had just walked in.

“That’s my name! Didn’t think you’d remember s’all.”

Of course he remembered. This boy found Lucky. He could never forget him.

“I’d never forget the person who rescued my stuffed dog from being lost in the library forever.”

“Technically I just held him captive until you came for him. But your version works too.”

Harry suddenly wondered why he’d never talked to Louis after that day. Why he hadn’t just went and said hi the many times he spotted him across the street or working in the library. But deep down he knew why. He knew he didn’t want the kind of relationship he’d had with Niall ever again. The kind of relationship he wanted involved flowers and love notes and everything terribly cliche. Louis didn’t seem like the kind of guy that wanted those things. Louis was just another Niall. Luring him in with his charm only to use him until he got bored and leave him behind to move on to better things.

“It was really nice seeing you Louis but I really have to study.”

He didn't have to study, but he started towards a table anyway. Of course Louis had to make things difficult and follow.

“I have to study too. Care if I join?”

Harry said yes. He owed him really, for finding Lucky for him. He was simply repaying a debt, that’s all.

They connected quickly and fell hard despite Harry fighting it with everything he had.

“Greens my favorite color you know?”

Louis never even got a book to pretend to study.

“My eyes are green,” Harry said, apparently not catching on, neatly highlighting words in his textbook.

“Exactly!”

Oh. _Oh._

A few minutes passed, Harry’s highlighting getting sloppier and sloppier because he kept glancing up and losing focus.

Maybe he wasn’t like Niall after all.

Niall never looked at him the way this boy did. That had to say something.

“I’ll be right back young Harold. Don’t you dare sneak out on me.”

His legs wouldn’t have let him sneak out even if he wanted to. His body was rooted to that chair. He wasn’t actually expecting to find boyfriend material on his boyfriend hunt, but now that he had he was going to take advantage of the situation.

Louis passed behind him, ruffling his hair with one hand for what seemed like hours, before vanishing.

He came back, said he had to use the bathroom, and plopped back down in his seat.

“Doesn’t the library close at nine?” Harry asked, looking up at the clock.

“Oh shit. Yeah. Shit.”

Louis scrambled around, making sure everything was turned off and locked up before they left. Harry couldn’t stop staring. They said goodnight underneath the giant oak tree out front, moonlight shining through the leaves. It was like a movie, except no one made the first move or admitted their feelings in a well thought out and romantic slur. Louis nodded. Harry smiled. That was it.

The next morning he realized Lucky wasn’t in his backpack.

The library didn’t open until ten on Saturday so he tried to keep himself busy, doing his dishes that had been neglected since he moved in and actually hanging up some of his clothes. When nine thirty hit he couldn’t wait any longer, hoping maybe they would make an exception for the dire circumstances. It took him five minutes to get there. He could’ve made it in three but he was purposely walking slow, buying time.

When he got there he realized there was nothing to indicate if they were open or closed so trying the door would be his only choice. To his surprise it was unlocked, which had to mean someone was there to help him because Louis had definitely locked the place up last night. He gently pushed his way inside, making sure the door didn’t slam behind him because it made what he was doing feel less criminal. He noticed most of the lights were still off, shadows bouncing off the walls from the few bulbs lit up at the information desk.

“Anybody here?”

His voice bellowed off the empty walls, surrounding him, and making him feel quite out of place. Libraries were quiet. He probably just made the loudest noise those walls had ever heard and he almost felt bad. What had the library really done to him after all?

“Back so soon?”

He’d already memorized that voice so he wasn’t surprised when Louis appeared.

He was surprised when he saw what Louis was holding.

“Where’d you find him?”

“Well—I”

He hadn’t seen this side of the boy yet. He wouldn’t even look up and he was clutching Lucky to his chest like if he let go he would float away.

“Harry just hear me out okay? Promise?”

He nodded although he wasn’t sure exactly what was going on.

“I just—oh fuck this is gonna sound so stupid. Anyways—so two years ago I met this boy. He’d lost his stuffed animal in the library. A stuffed animal in a university library. I still remember when the girl first brought it to me. I kept wondering how it got in here and who lost it and if they were upset or if they even noticed that it was gone. And then here I am one morning just playing around on the computer and I turn around and—well I see this boy—and this boy is fucking gorgeous. But in a way where I could tell he didn’t know he was gorgeous ya’know? He had curly hair—I’d always kind of had a thing for curly hair. And green’s my favorite color. Of course he had green eyes too. Big green eyes. So here I was trying to formulate some plan to con this boy into staying and talking to me and then he said he was looking for a stuffed dog. I almost passed out because things like that don’t just happen—s’fate. So I gave him his dog back and before I knew it he was gone. Just like that. I saw him around, of course, but—well I didn’t want to creep him out. I guess I figured he’d come to me if it was really fate. So you can imagine my confusion and excitement when he shows up two years later—two fucking years and he’s still got those beautiful curls and those green eyes and dimples. Did you know you have dimples? Of course you do, what am I talking about. Anyways, I couldn’t let him walk away again. So I took his stuffed dog out of his backpack and hid it when I went to the bathroom. Figured he’d have to come back for that. I—I just wanted him to come back s’all. I’m really sorry Harry. I know it was a shit thing to do and I’ll understand if you hate me.”

Silence.

“You stole my dog?”

Harry wanted to be mad. He really did.

“Technically yeah—I guess. I’d just consider it borrowing though. I swear I was gonna give him back.”

Why wasn’t he mad?

“You do realize this means our entire relationship will be based on lies and deceit right?”

 

Louis was standing there, stuffed dog still in his arms, a look of confusion washing over him. At least they were both in the same boat.

“You’re not mad?”

He managed to choke out the question on both of their minds.

“Well I—I s’spose not. Not really.”

Somehow they ended up in a tangled mess that was supposed to be a hug. Louis’ arms wrapped around him, gripping the hoodie he was wearing, fingers trying keep him from running away. His head found its way to the spot between Harry’s neck and shoulder, the corner of his mouth just barely catching skin when he spoke.

“Would it be okay if I kissed you Harry?”

He didn’t wait for an answer. Starting on the spot his mouth was already touching, pressing little pecks, between Harry’s giggles, all the way up his jaw until he was hovering over his lips. Harry found himself taking it from there, pressing their lips together with probably more force then necessary, but nobody was complaining. It was a breathtaking kiss, slow and gentle and nothing like any kiss he’d ever had before. Louis did everything like he wanted it to last forever, like he was trying to take his time and savor every swipe of tongues, every sigh, every spot Harry touched him. If this is what kissing was supposed to be like he had been doing something seriously wrong, because in that moment he felt like he would never even need to doing anything more with the boy, as long as he could keep kissing him like that. Kissing had never felt that important with Niall.

He was pulled from his thoughts when Louis gently sucked his bottom lip between his own.

Fuck.

He really just needed a moment to figure out if he could survive another day without this.

“Lou?”

He pulled back, dazed and love struck and blinking slowly. Louis’ face was flushed, cheeks shaded a light pink, hair hanging messily across his forehead. How had he never realized how utterly beautiful he was before?

“mhm?”

He mumbled as he pressed a simple kiss to Harry’s lips, hand gripping the back of his neck, pulling him in.

“Where’s Lucky?”

He knew where Lucky was, just a few feet away slumped on the floor, where Louis had dropped him at some point. Most likely when he decided kissing Harry was the most important thing to do at the moment. Now he was just messing with the boy.

“Umm—shit.”

Louis’ eyes darted across the floor until they landed on the dog. He walked over and scooped him up and patted him on the head.

“Sorry little buddy. I got a tad bit distracted.”

He held him out, offering him to Harry, who took him and hugged him close.

He wasn’t even embarrassed.

And that was the last time Lucky went missing.

He didn’t have anyone to help Harry find anymore.


End file.
